COURAGE AND TIME; THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT THINGS YOU’LL EVER NEED

Beatrice drove her car steadily on the road, making sure not to go past her speed limit or to go through red lights, she smiled at the thought of her little daughter Macy that was strapped in a sleeping basket in the backseat sleeping peacefully, it was a huge relief that her fever had gone down, now all she had to do was drive home safely and tuck her in bed allowing her to rest. Things were moving smoothly until a very familiar tune filled the entire car, judging from the ringtone, she could tell who was calling, it was her husband, and with a silly grin on her face, she turned and stared at her cell phone that was on the seat beside her unaware of the gigantic truck that just made a turn and was directly in front her vehicle and when she finally raised her eyes ……..it was too late. Poor Beatrice drove straight into the truck.
Eleven hours later, Beatrice sat on her hospital crying after she heard of the death of the truck driver, a police officer stood by waiting to take her statement; Beatrice raised a tear stained face at the police officer and wailed out
“But…….how is that even possible, how can he be dead? I took my eyes off the road for just a second”

A mistake Beatrice made in just a second took the life of an innocent driver and also put her life and her daughter’s life in huge danger, in just a second.
A lot of good things and tons of bad things happen in just a second, a single decision made in just a second can destroy the lives of many and can also be a blessing to many, if Beatrice had known that her single decision to take a quick glance at her caller’s id would have landed a man in an early grave, she would have kept her eyes on the road but it’s not like she could have consulted a soothsayer before hitting the roads. It’s not like we can predict the future to know if our next action would land us in deep trouble or would favor us but one thing we can do is THINK. Stop and think, “What I’m about to do, what are the odds of it being a good thing or a bad thing….. Should I take this risk?”
In some cases, it’s really difficult to stop and think and that makes it unavoidable but in most cases, it’s really easy to take a pause and think, better still, stop and think.
A second can destroy lives, a second can build lives…….. but so long as you stop and think about what the next second holds, about how sad or how great the next seconds brings, it makes that next second worth it, so stop and think, it may not go as well as it had gone in your head but it’ll go a long way in making you learn to consult yourself. Learn to consult yourself and you’ll realize: that one second that brings pain wouldn’t occur and that one second that brings joy would make you so happy. Stop and think because you have to. Stop and think because in just a second, things happen. Stop and think because it defines us.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear. But the triumph over it, the moment when you learn to kick against those fears and move on, that’s Courage. Without fear, there can’t be courage so it takes one to be afraid and then prepare to fight it, that’s when the courage to fight it comes in. Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point. The secret to happiness is freedom…… and the secret to freedom is courage, sometimes being courageous is way more important than being confident. A single feat of daring can alter the whole conception of what’s possible. Courage isn’t having the strength to move on, it’s moving on when you don’t have the strength. All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them head on, being courageous is like having a resistance to fear, being it’s master not the absence of fear. Being courageous is also being graceful but this time under pressure. Courage is the discovery that you may not win and trying when you know you can lose, it’s developing character to stand strong. Courage doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid, it means you don’t let fear stop you; it’s the ability to be a good actor in presence of fear, acting in the premise that there is something more important than fear, the willingness to act in spite of fear. Success means having the courage, the determination and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.

Courage doesn’t roar, sometimes courage is that little voice at the back of your head saying “I will try again tomorrow”. Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage and confidence in the doing. Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage, so if you could get the courage to begin, you can gain the courage to succeed, tell yourself this today: BE BRAVE MY HEART, HAVE COURAGE MY SOUL.
You can choose courage or you can choose comfort but know that you can’t choose both, so take this piece of advice, when you choose comfort but find courage running away from you, why not choose courage and find comfort crawl to you.